tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post170400548074743374..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: Far from GothamAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-31149132078560088872018-09-09T20:46:41.256-04:002018-09-09T20:46:41.256-04:00Thank for commenting, Sacchi and Lisabet.
Please ...Thank for commenting, Sacchi and Lisabet.<br /><br />Please excuse my late response. I tried to respond on my cell-phone, but my reply disappeared into cyberspace. This weekend has been insane. The local court of drag performers (queens and kings) elected a new Emperor and Empress, so there has been a drag show every evening for 4 nights, plus a Sunday brunch. My partner Mirtha and I were recruited into being part of a queen's chorus of backup dancers, so we had choreography to rehearse! Between shows, we had to make sure the LGBT club was clean, since this is our job. Coronation Week (always in September) is the high point of the year for members of the court, but I'm glad when it's over.<br /><br />Anyway, Sacchi, I also have a problem with Sarah Schulman's concept of "urbanity," especially since it is shared by some other folks who seem to believe that nothing of interest happens in cities of under a million people. Saskatchewan (largely rural) was the birthplace of the Canadian health care system, and of the far-left political party originally named the CCF (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation), which survives as the NDP (New Democratic Party), still slightly further left than the Liberals or (of course) the Conservatives. Here in Sask, the two small cities (Regina and Saskatoon) are magnets for people leaving the surrounding farm villages or the native reserves, and this makes them more urban than people in other regions seem to guess, since the two cities aren't suburbs of bigger cultural centres. Regina, in particular, is a seat of government, so political protests can have an effect here, and the curious can watch government in action at City Hall or in the Legislative Building.<br /><br />In other parts of North America, racial conflict usually involves two or more groups of people who are not native to this continent. In other parts of the world, there is even an assumption that the original inhabitants of North America are already extinct. Here in Saskatchewan, we're still dealing with racism/colonialism in its original form. The poorest neighbourhoods in the two cities are sometimes jokingly called "the Rez" because they are full of visibly-native people. In the 21st century, there is still a chance that the historical pattern of slaughter, starvation, assimilation, the outlawing & destruction of native culture which has resulted in a public image of native people as losers by nature can be stopped and some amends can be made. <br /><br />Maximum word-counts affect my decisions about how much local colour to include. Even within Canada, I've found that most people outside the prairies know very little about this region, or this province, or this town, so if I want to include this setting, I need to explain things. A writer in New York could refer to Bleecker Street and expect the reference to be recognized, and a writer in Toronto can refer to Queen Street (East or West), the CN Tower, or particular parts of town, but if I were to say that a hip couple is renovating an old house in the Prairie Gothic style on one of the cross-streets off 13th Avenue in Regina, would this reference make sense to anyone who hasn't lived here? If I were to say that rush hour traffic was especially heavy on the Albert Street Bridge, could you picture the scene? Unless I have room to explain, I usually avoid specific references to place, even when I imagine a plot unfolding where I live.<br /><br />There are characters, and then there are readers. If I imagine readers, I usually imagine them living somewhere else.<br />Jean Robertahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08805088081675965859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-41768520198304742972018-09-04T07:40:33.471-04:002018-09-04T07:40:33.471-04:00Your strategy doesn't match mine at all, but i...Your strategy doesn't match mine at all, but it may be just as effective. You're probably right that if you describe a generic North American city, the reader will fill in the familiar details. But what about you? When you're writing, where do you imagine the tale playing itself out? I can't really start writing until I know where the characters are and often, where they come from. Can you?Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-48088662921972823512018-09-03T23:22:40.421-04:002018-09-03T23:22:40.421-04:00I appreciate cities and like to visit them now and...I appreciate cities and like to visit them now and then, but I do resent the assumption of "urbanity' as the the root of all political and cultural trends. I don't deny it, exactly, but especially in these days of internet connectivity one can live in rural surroundings and still be as progressive and creative as any city dweller. Especially if your rural surroundings are in close proximity to four major colleges and a university. Granted, that's a rare situation, and I do have to admit that the colleges bring the advantages of cities to the country, but I still chafe at the notion that only cities are civilized. (Okay, my pointless rant is over.) Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.com